2011 PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne

Main Event
Day: 4
Event Info

2011 PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
42
Prize
330,000 AUD
Event Info
Buy-in
4,700 AUD
Entries
260
Level Info
Level
26
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
5,000

The Blinds

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 1,000 ante

The blinds have kicked off at 6,000/12,000 with a 1,000 ante and will stay this way for approximately 12 minutes, and then the blinds will start fresh with 75-minute levels.

Away We're Off

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 1,000 ante

Asia Pacific Poker Tour President Danny McDonough has just introduced our final table and told the dealer fire away!

Level: 19

Blinds: 6,000/12,000

Ante: 1,000

Final Table Set to Begin

Chip Leader Phillip Willcocks
Chip Leader Phillip Willcocks

Welcome to Day 4 of the 2011 PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne Main Event! This is it folks, with a final nine eagerly awaiting their fate as the final day of action is set to kick off.

It’s a mostly-Aussie final table, with one of Australia’s all-time tournament earners Leo Boxell in the best position to keep the title on home soil. But, out in front of Boxell, and the man best primed to take home the $330,000 first prize, is New Zealand’s Phillip Willcoks. It wouldn’t be the first time Willcocks has tasted success on Aussie turf, with a runner-up finish and $112,000 coming at the 2009 ANZPT Queensland.

This is how the seating draw looks going into the excitement of the final table.

SeatPlayerCountryChip CountBBsChip %
1Eddie MascardiAustralia335,00033.54.4%
2Van MarcusAustralia346,00034.64.5%
3William JonesAustralia730,000739.5%
4Phillip WillcocksNew Zealand2,317,000231.730.5%
5Michael FrydmanAustralia741,00074.19.6%
6Steve BouyaAustralia910,0009111.8%
7Julius ColmanAustralia513,00051.36.6%
8Leo BoxellAustralia1,170,00011715.2%
9Jackson ZhengNew Zealand640,000648.3%

While there might be one chip stack towering over all its competitors, this is still anyone’s tournament for the taking. Jackson Zheng is an experienced young player and will also be looking to secure the victory for New Zealand, while 28-year old professional Van Marcus has tasted success all around the word and will be striving to capitalize on his position in this tournament to finish with another victory in his home country. Marcus will have to first get through his uncle though, with Steve Bouya starting with almost a million in chips.

Play at the APPT Melbourne Main Event Final Table is set to kick off at 2:10 PM AEST and PokerNews will be in the midst of all the action, as one player goes home with AUD $330,000 and is crowned the champion!

Seat 9: Jackson Zheng, New Zealand - 640,000

Jackson Zheng
Jackson Zheng

Jackson Zheng is one of two New Zealanders at the APPT Melbourne Main Event final table. The 22-year-old is a professional poker with four years of experience under his belt. Zheng has amassed a little more than $170,000 in career live tournament earnings in his short time on the live circuit.

Zheng made his first trip to Las Vegas last summer for the WSOP and cashed in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. Most notably, Zheng won back-to-back titles at the New Zealand Poker Open from 2010-11. When he’s not playing cards, Zheng enjoys computer games and snow sports. The Auckland native enters the final table sixth in chips with 640,000.

Bio courtesy of PokerStars

Tags: Jackson Zheng

Seat 8: Leo Boxell, Australia - 1,170,000

Leo Boxell
Leo Boxell

One of Australia's all-time greats, Leo "The Mechanic" Boxell is one of the most popular players on the regional tour and a true gentleman of the game. With results dating back to 1998 including five APPT/ANZPT cashes, one WSOP cash, multiple New Zealand and Australian/Aussie Millions championships, and over USD $750,000 in career earnings, Boxell is ranked in the Australian top 20 for all-time tournament earnings. An APPT title would almost certainly put a rubber stamp on Boxell's inevitable ticket to the Australian Poker Hall of Fame. He'll enter the final table second in chips with 1,170,000.

Bio courtesy of PokerStars

Tags: Leo Boxell

Seat 7: Julius Colman, Australia - 513,000

Julius Colman
Julius Colman

Julius Colman is no stranger to the big stage, having first burst onto the Australasian poker scene in 2007 when he finished fourth at the Aussie Millions Main Event (AUD $500,000). The 64-year-old company director is an avid golfer and family man.

Colman has amassed an impressive tournament resume over the years, cashing in two WSOP events and three APPT events, as well as final tabling the inaugural ANZPT event in Adelaide in 2009. He’ll be starting the APPT Melbourne Main Event final table as the third-shortest stack with 513,000 in chips.

Bio courtesy of PokerStars

Tags: Julius Colman

Seat 6: Steve Bouya, Australia - 910,000

Phares Bouya
Phares Bouya

Melbourne native Steve Bouya has been playing poker as a hobby for the past 10 years. Bouya is 51-years-young and has a little more than $60,000 in prize money to his name; the bulk of which he earned for a third-place finish in a $1,000 buy-in side event at the 2009 Aussie Millions. Bouya credits nephew Van Marcus (also at the APPT Melbourne Main Event final table) for getting him started in poker and noted that he’d like to go heads up with Van over any other player at the table.

Bouya enjoys fishing in his spare time. Should he finish fifth or higher, Bouya will have set a personal best for the most money won in a single tournament. Bouya enters the final table third in chips.

Bio courtesy of PokerStars

Tags: Steve Bouya

Seat 5: Michael Frydman, Australia - 741,000

Michael Frydman, a 56-year-old company director from Sydney, first took an interest in poker 40 years ago after watching his parents play with their friends on weekends. He’s since turned that passion into six final table berths and more than AUD $60,000 in tournament cashes since 2001, including a third-place finish in the 2006 Victorian Poker Championships. Frydman enters Monday's final table fourth in chips with 741,000.

Bio courtesy of PokerStars

Tags: Michael Frydman

Seat 4: Phillip Willcocks, New Zealand - 2,317,000

Phillip Willcocks
Phillip Willcocks

Phillip Willcocks, a 28-year-old professional poker player from Auckland, New Zealand, first made some noise on the local circuit in 2009 after finishing runner-up in the inaugural ANZPT Queensland Main Event for AUD $112,000. Since then, he’s registered an eighth-place finish in the 2009 APPT Cebu Main Event and now finds himself in prime position to earn his first major title, entering the final table with 2,317,000 in chips. Willcocks noted he'd like to get heads-up against the only other New Zealander at the table, Jackson Zheng.

Bio courtesy of PokerStars

Tags: Phillip Willcocks